Wash Day
by Mizz Blackshaw
Summary: Ash learns something new about Iris: how she washes her hair. No intended shipping, but let your imagination run free!


Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon

A/N: Let's take a look at Iris's hair (and mine, but that's not relevant at the moment). Enjoy this after midnight story and review, favorite, and happy reading!

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Wash Day

It was the weekend.

You can tell it was the weekend because Iris was up earlier than everyone else, gathering berries from the nearest trees. She wanted to make sure that all of the travelers were still asleep during the process she was about to do.

"Rawst berries for moisture…oran berries for damage repair…and leppa berries for protein." She said as she packed a bunch of berries into her sleeves and shirt.

"_Axew_!" The pokémon popped out of her hair.

"Shh!" She hissed. "I know you want to help, but keep it down."

"_Axew_." The pokémon whispered.

Once the girl gathered enough berries, she climbed down and grabbed the bowl, which she used to mix berries, from her bag. After taking off the stems and leaves from the berries, she mashed them into a fine paste, making sure that there weren't a lump to be seen.

"Ready?" She asked her friend. Axew nodded and they went towards the lake they were near. Cilan and Ash were sleeping soundly by the tree.

Iris took out the two messy buns on the top of her head and the large ponytail that hung low. Then she grabbed a few handfuls of water and raked it into her hair from ends to root. She didn't want to put too much water in it at once so she did it strategically. Iris divided her hair into four large braids. Working one at a time, she undid one and worked in the berry hair mask. This was her Saturday morning routine.

Once the berry mask was all through her hair, she wrapped it into a towel and sat back. "Do you want to watch the sunrise with me?" She asked the pokémon.

"_Yoo_." He nodded and sat back with her.

The sun came slowly over the natural plain. The grass rolled in waves with the lake of fresh water. It was peaceful and quiet until…

"HAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUWWWWWHHHH!"

Iris and Axew jumped and turned to see Ash and Pikachu stretching. "Oh what?" Iris groaned. "He's awake?"

The boy stood up as his pokémon jumped on his shoulder. "Mornin'." He sat down next to her. "Wutcha doin'?"

She rolled her eyes. "If you really must know, I'm about to wash my hair."

"Really?" He asked. "Come to think of it, I've never seen you do that."

She smirked. "I do it in secret. So if you'll excuse me…"

Ash just sat there, not getting the hint, as she carefully took off her shirt. The girl had her swimsuit underneath, which was perfect in this situation. Iris took off the towel and tossed it to the ground before going into the water. She only went in a bit to where the water was over her ankles and sat down. Accompanying her was two jars (one empty and the other full of a brown something else) and Axew.

"Hey, Iris!" Ash called. "Do you mind if I watch?"

"Why?"

He shrugged. "It just has to be tough with all that hair. I just want to see how you do it."

"Well…okay. But don't laugh!"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you're such a kid."

He rolled his eyes and took off his pants to join her. Meanwhile, the pokémon began to have fun in the water.

Iris took down a braid and filled the empty jar with water. With it, she rinsed out any of the berry past that happened to be left behind. Then, she raked through the hair with her fingers. Ash watched intently as if he was going to be quizzed later.

"So, what was that goop in your hair?" He asked. She told him. "What's in the jar?" He asked as soon as she picked up the mystery jar.

Iris opened it. "It's a mud wash." That was the short answer. "It's made out of a special clay that I mixed with the juice from a lum berry and oran berry oil." She said it so matter-of-factly, proud of creating her own shampoo.

"So…you wash your hair with mud…?"

She held the jar to his nose. "Smell it."

He did. "Wow! That smells awesome!"

She started pouring the contents into the section of hair. And as she continued, Ash started asking more questions (Where did you get it from? Why do you only wash your hair on the weekends? Why don't you wash your hair all at once?), to which Iris replied to them (I get it from a special shop. I don't need to wash it more than that. So it doesn't tangle up.) until he was silent.

Iris's fingers raked through the zig-zag kinks of her last section before braiding it up again. Then, she threw the four braids onto the top to make a bun. "There! Finished." She let out a sigh. After about an hour, her arms felt weak.

"So…" Ash had his eyes on the mud jar. "…does that really work?"

"Of course it does!" She tilted her head to show him the proof. "See how clean and shiny it is?"

"Yeah." He blinked. "Can I try some?"

She scoffed. "Since when did you care about your appearance?"

He laughed. "I don't. I just want to see what it's like."

"Fine." Iris handed him the jar that had only a little bit left. It was just enough for him.

Ash dunked his head into the water and slung it right back out. Then, he poured whatever was left directly onto his scalp and worked it in. "Man, that feels good!" Iris couldn't help but to laugh. Ash went underwater again and came out with clean hair. "All done!"

"And it only took you two minutes."

"Compared to your hour." The two laughed. Iris felt happy to share, knowing that Ash didn't judge her. Maybe now, she didn't have to wash in secret.

They walked to shore. Iris grabbed a towel from Cilan's bag and wrapped it around her dripping hair.

"You guys are up early." Cilan said with the table already set. He didn't even notice the familiar towel on his friend's head.

"Yeah, just washing hair." Ash answered, taking his seat.

Iris nodded, squishing the towel in her hair. And in the weeks that followed, Iris continued to wash her hair early Saturday mornings. But this time, it wasn't to hide.


End file.
